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THE
Lopez-managed First Gas Power Corp. challenged Thursday
accusations it has engaged in any “ghost power
deliveries” or any act prejudicial to the consumers of
the Manila Electric Co.
The allegations of irregularity had been
made by Rep. Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, who said
in a privileged speech on Wednesday: “On such a grand
scale that should stagger the minds of consumers,
electricity [was] delivered by Meralco at a price that
included costs of power that Meralco paid to First Gas
when the latter did not deliver the power that Meralco
paid for, but the cost of which Meralco passed on to
consumers.”
On Thursday there was a strong response
from Richard B. Tantoco, First Gas executive vice
president and chief operating officer, who, in
controverting alleged ghost power deliveries, said,
“First Gas has remained steadfast in its commitment to
government to deliver clean power using the country’s
natural gas from Malampaya in Palawan.”
He added, “In fact, First Gas has always
been ready to generate 1,000 megawatts since its full
commercial operations in August 2000. However,
state-owned National Power Corp. [Napocor] has not kept
its part of the bargain on the availability of the
transmission lines needed to transport power from the
First Gas plant.”
Tantoco averred that since August 2000,
“First Gas has always requested the Napocor for a higher
dispatch of its power plant. A higher dispatch will give
Meralco consumers the best rate per kilowatt-hour.”
He said this can be seen in the latest
figures of Meralco on its web site, showing a
comparative breakdown of the rate per kilowatt-hour of
its major suppliers, including First Gas. When First Gas
is dispatched as contracted, its rates are competitively
lower in spite of natural gas being taxed heavily.
Tantoco said records show that the completion of
Napocor’s Transmission Line Projects, specifically the
Sucat-Araneta line and Dasmarinas line and Zapote
substation, were delayed by over five years.
Tantoco said these transmission lines,
part of the government Power Development Program (PDP),
are an integral part of the Malampaya Gas-to-Power
project, the country’s largest integrated investment to
date at $4.5 billion.
He said a generating plant without a
transmission line to transport power will definitely be
stranded. As such, in 2000, First Gas’s Sta. Rita
1,000-MW plant and Napocor’s 600-MW coal plant were
limited to a total combined dispatch of only 600 to 700
MW.
Villafuerte also alleged that First Gas
was paid P12.99 billion but did not deliver power to
Meralco.
Tantoco said that from December 2000 to
November 2001, First Gas delivered power to Meralco. He
added as in any contract for the building and operation
of a power plant, First Gas also has a “take or pay”
provision. Napocor’s independent power producers (IPPs)
have the same “take or pay” provision and are even given
a government guarantee but that private IPPs like First
Gas do not enjoy such guarantees.
Napocor, on the other hand, branded as
“pure lies” the succession of full-page ads in various
newspapers and tabloids, and said these are meant to
misinform the general reading public.
Napocor spokesman Dennis S. Gana said,
“Just to set the record straight, and contrary to what
the ads are trying to portray, Napocor actually bought
quality coal from the lowest bidder that its power
plants require at a delivered price of $55 per ton when
the average price of coal in the global market had
peaked at $130 a ton. . .The alleged price of $109 per
ton in the paid advertisement already includes the cost
of delivery to the plant.”
“These ads insult the intelligence of
the reading public. . .I think they see these ads for
what they are really worth—pure black propaganda which
are meant to disinform them of the real issues at hand,”
added Gana.
“Neither did the advertisement mention
if the buying price of Quezon Power at $65 per ton was
for pickup or delivered, which makes a lot of difference
since the freight cost ranges between $30 and $50 per
ton depending on where the coal is sourced:
Indonesia,
China or Australia. The paid advertisement likewise
maliciously failed to mention that Quezon Power uses
both high- and low-quality coals. Is the $65 per ton for
the low-quality coal or high-quality coal?” said Gana.
He also pointed out coal is in tight
supply. “If NPC’s prices are higher, how come suppliers
of Quezon Power don’t bid in our tenders? Businessmen
would definitely run after the bigger profit. Let us be
truthful in giving statements to the media. We should
not be peddling lies. It is only when we provide our
consumers and customers with correct, accurate and
truthful information that we really empower them,” he
said. P.A. Isla |
